17 August the Sun conjuncts Ceres. This is a spotlight trained on our relationship with nature, with our children or those we hold dominion over (as in the role of boss, for instance, or in more subtle ways, such as when we are a customer and a server is dependent on us for their tip, though just as easily we are dependent on the server), and gives us a clear sense not only of what power we naturally hold, but of the power we might hold in future, as well. This also puts issues of diet, particularly of those items that affect us badly, in focus–and if you happen to be in an agriculture, child-care, or nutrition-related business, this is the time to do a thorough inventory and re-assess needs and plans in light of the current situation. An enlightening day, in many ways–keep your eyes (and your senses!) open.

‘A Mad Tea Party’ One of a series of brilliant illustrations Arthur Rackham 1907 {{PD}}

The 21st of September is a rough day for successful communication: Mercury sesquiquadrates Sedna, suggesting that much of what’s communicated is done without any awareness of what’s truly shared, and the Sun-Earth axis creates a T-square with Ceres, making for an ongoing atmosphere of tension between those who believe they should hold power and command, and the material reality, ‘what is’.

Immediately the Moon creates a T-square with the Sun-Earth axis and sextiles Neptune. We could feel put on the spot, facing a bit of a crisis, and creativity, imagination, or some careful dissembling (not lying, exactly, more like diplomatically avoiding the hard-line Capricorn reality) may be the way out. Keep in mind that just because someone applies pressure, it doesn’t mean we are under some kind of obligation to respond to it.

And the 23rd promises:

The Sun in Libra wants to co-operate, to shine a light on what may be deceptive, hidden in fog, mysterious, illusive, imaginative, creative, dreamlike–and Neptune will have none of it, pulling his Piscean curtain of fog and mirrors and video installations and shimmery, shiny things even tighter. This may feel like, hard as we try to see the facts, the ‘Truth’, or how to assemble the creative alternative, we may be left with little concrete or understandable to grasp. It all may feel a little ‘Alice in Wonderland’.

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Somehow I can't imagine Juno would approve of this: a peacock served in full plumage, detail from Brueghel's 'The Senses of Taste, Hearing, and Touch' 1618 {{PD-Art}}

Or maybe that’s ‘Let me tell you what to eat!’ Ceres doesn’t give up her sense of authority and dominion just because the material comforts and conditions are emphasized; instead, she feels them more. Her role as Mother Nature is key to her reactions and identity as she transits the sign of the bull; she translates her command of nature into a command of those over whom she feels she holds authority, and the result can be an unreasonable push by some to control the intake, output, and asset-level of others. You’ll recall that Ceres took her maternal oversight very seriously, literally negotiating daughter Proserpina/ Persephone’s position in the Underworld–and that means she won’t hesitate to overstep personal boundaries to try to control the situation.

There’s an advantage to her relationship with nature, though, that brings forward an enjoyment of the material during her transit of Taurus; the comforts and pleasures of physical existence are brighter, stronger, tastier, more pungent, fragrant, stimulating, and as a consequence of the world feeling so real and in your facewe may feel alive in a way we haven’t for some time. This coincides with a relatively warm spring in the Northern Hemisphere, which may exaggerate the effect for those who are able to get out and about in the sunshine.

It’s time to plant (don’t be too tied to the Moon phases–they seem to affect growth rates more than anything else, though I would avoid planting or transplanting in the Dark of the Moon–we must remain aware of the pull of the Lunar orb, and the way she symbolizes progression, and so growth); it’s also time to create, especially with Ceres kicking off her transit of Taurus with a first aspect of sextile to Neptune. This will enhance imagination and inspiration, and give even the dullest of us some truly fertile creative material and some unique, nature-keyed inspiration :)

If you have natal placements in Taurus you’ll likely take on a Ceres-type persona as she contacts the body or point; if you have natal placements in Scorpio, as Ceres makes opposition contact you may find yourself up against a Ceres-embodying individual, and in this latter instance, whatever you do, don’t attempt to negotiate–Ceres can’t be beat in the hammering-out-a-compromise department. In square by transit to a natal placement, Ceres may present us with a conflict via temptation: we may be drawn away from appropriate expression of the contacted energy with the promise (or mirage) of sensual comforts or delights.

7:30 AM PDT the Virgo Moon opposes Ceres in Pisces; here we have two sets of feeling, nurturing, and maternally-keyed energies facing off against each other–and this could prove to be an incredibly rough showdown. One side (Ceres) clearly will feel it has the advantage of authority, whether that is conferred through age, position, status, or is primal (Mom!) while the other side (Moon) will be all-feeling and perhaps intuitively already privy to what the other side wants to share or state–yet feels vulnerable, as what opposes inherently carries power (or at least, presents resistance and a differing point of view) over the individual or side that is ‘junior’ (the Moon) in some way. This can also be a clash of maturity, where the over reaching of boundaries on the one side clashes with a recently developed Self-possession on the other.

Here’s what I said about this conjunction in the newsletter: “Earth also conjuncts Ceres today, suggesting that we should keep all our dealings strictly material today–if you can’t weigh it, hold it in your hand, or point to it in the physical world, then leave it be.” I’d add to this a little admonition as to what to do: imagine the authority you want to hold, visualize the territory you want to declare your own, commune with the elements of nature to connect yourself to natural flow that will pull what you want to you. I know we’re probably trying to do this every day; this is a day when the Universe won’t just be available to us, she will open her arms and welcome us into her energy stream, nurture us, and ‘feed’ us what we ask for and need, like any good mother will

Here are the two most exciting Lunar periods for the 25th; since one is very early, I thought I should publish early, so you can take full advantage of it.

3 AM is the Moon’s sextile to Venus; Venus is in her dignity (a sign she rules) and the Moon is in the sign of Venus’ exaltation–is this meaningful? Perhaps only in that the energies are especially open to each other; the flow of emotional perceptions and intuition keyed to the Collective, the Universe, and the creative depths (Pisces) moves easily into relationship matters, the attaining of assets, especially those that comfort (Taurus), and into artistic endeavors, particularly those of an artisanal or crafts nature. This is the energy US East Coasters and Midwesterners start their day with, doubling the effect and allowing them to extend the effect; they ‘carry it with them,’ so to speak, as the energy that launches our day can linger, influencing our mentality and approach. Poor West Coasters! This happens when most are sleeping–but early risers catch the tail end and ride it out. A beautiful opportunity–make the most of it.

1 PM Pacific the Moon conjuncts Ceres in Pisces, bringing two strong female symbols together. Intensely felt intuition and even stronger instincts (Ceres) are tuned to nature (Ceres) and the Collective/ Universe (Pisces). This is an almost magical window for the anima in us all; an immense knowing is possible, one where the intuition and all instincts align and can tell us anything about the natural world, or the other Beings in it, we’d like to know. Also hugely healing, and powerful for all female related functions: reproduction, nurture, receptivity–open to the Universe and go with it!

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Through the 18th the Moon makes a handful of sextiles, nothing of real influence. It isn’t until 6 PM Pacific that the Moon makes significant contact, a square to Ceres; this, though, may be monumental. The emotions and/ or intuition are faced with a very strong authority, perhaps maternal, perhaps something resulting from previous negotiations, or maybe Mother Nature Herself. It seems our emotional needs are at odds with something that is essentially a fact of life (or at least, a fact of our lives!) This may be something of a shock; the Ceres energy in this equation is Piscean, and so seems to be everywhere and contain everything–we can end up feeling we’ve been left out of the Collective (which of course can’t happen–but these are feelings!) We need to be very clear about the rights of this Ceres-figure–is the disputed territory actually Hers to control, or is She overstepping Her bounds? Determine this and you’ll know how to behave in this situation.

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7 AM-ish sees the transiting Moon complete a Finger of God with a base of Ceres and the North Node. This may be a point of reckoning for all of us concerning Mother Nature and the way in which she’s changing the Life Path of just about everyone on the planet. Another big shake, a volcano going off (as of this writing there’s new activity in Japan, and there’s plenty more sprinkled around the Ring of Fire, not to mention so many other places on the map), or some other natural phenomenon (even a man-triggered one like a nuclear reaction, or the release of radiation, as we’re already seeing, but this time in a proportion with real consequences)? This may be reading too much into it, but with the Moon in Water and the NN in Sagittarius, it suggests to me another tsunami or other water phenomenon that has far-reaching (Sag) effects–but with Ceres in Aquarius, it may just be that our minds are fixed on pondering, studying, and analyzing what has already occurred. A small note: the dynamic (moving) chart I use to follow transits, which is set for Seattle, shows the Moon sextile the chart Vertex at this point, as well–and this implies a truly fated event. Most likely, though, is that this point will pass as so many others have, with nary a whisper

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Ceres-the scythe, of course, represents her agrarian connection, and the chain may stand for her authority, specifically the weight and obligations carried by those who are in charge. artist unknown French c.15th century

Ceres sits at the midpoint of the current Jupiter-Pluto square, feeding the pressure of the social and expansive in conflict with the dark, the secret, the mysterious, and the forces of change into issues of authority and the maternal or nurturing. We may see our Jupiter-Pluto energy funneled into our nurturing roles (and these can be the nurture of just about anything, though with the Ceres placement in Aquarius we may be trying to get something intellectual or avant garde on its feet) or we may see our authority or Mommy-related secrets become very very public. In any case, what we need to know is that issues involving Ceres’ subjects will be the outlet for the clash of the lord of the Underworld and the supreme god, and Mother Nature will absorb the impact–and perhaps, give or withhold ‘permission’ to deal successfully.

Dark of the Moon begins around 12:30 PM PST of the 1st; it’s an invitation to relax, meditate, and, with the Moon in Aquarius, think.

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We will be in a unique position today; we will be so busy being the Cancer Moon, we may not pay attention to it–but for us, as for Einstein, it will be nice to know it’s there.

Then, just after 4 PM PST, the Moon comes into proximity of a quick string of aspects: a square to h. Zeus, a square to Saturn, then an opposition to Ceres. We may see a chafing of ambition and desire against the sensitivities of the spirit, against the structure, boundaries, and strictures of tradition or the establishment, and then a face-off that involves ‘maternal’ forces, of one kind or another. This can be literally between two mothers or life-giving forces, between Mother Nature and the constancy of change (as one tries to perpetuate the system, and the other insists on re-making it), or between external authorities and one’s own senses, intuition, or emotions; for a scant few this latter authority/ senses conflict will be within themselves. In any case, it stirs things up and may make for an unsettled evening. The upset is largely centered in our own ideas of what should be coddled, what should be controlled or dealt with firmly or what must be given boundaries–it’s good to meet this for what it is, a chance to see where our viewpoint may be skewed, particularly when it may be inappropriately controlling of something external to ourselves.